Body Guards
by Lance Gonzales
Summary: Most of the attacks will not be aimed at head quarters. Dumbledore said quietly. “The best thing I can do is to keep my most powerful forces here at the castle where Voldemort is most likely to attack.
1. Default chapter

**The girl who was**.

Trill sat up suddenly, tossing the blankets and throwing her hands to the ground, straining to listen for small noises even while the knife in her boot found it's way into the dim morning light. Her eyes were wide with fear when she rolled quickly out of the bedding by the dead fire with the knife in front of her face, and waited in a crouch for the intruder. Birds flew in a flurry of wings from a nearby bush and her head jerked toward the sound of something rustling in the thick underbrush. Presently she heard the sound of snuffling, like a hunting dog after the game.

"Amurensis." She said indignantly, standing up and sliding the knife back into her boot. Trill was a short but slim girl, almost lithely muscled, and very elegant. She wore tight white clothingthat she had sewed herself, which she was very proud of. She had high cheekbones covered by light brown skin and high arched eyebrows, but the very most extraordinary part about her was her hair. Every inch of it was shining, silky silver and had she been at Hogwarts, they may have mistaken her for a Veela.

The snuffling stopped and she heard instead the sound of soft footpads making their way across the thick layer of leaves toward her camp. Trill watched approach through the trees, an enormous white wolf with a shaggy white mane and shimmering white fur that came immediately upon seeing her and touched his nose to her boot.

"Apology accepted." She said seriously, looking down her nose at the huge animal that came to her rib cage. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment before Trill fell to her knees and wrapped her arms tightly around his soft ruff.

"I've missed you." She said into his fur. Amurensis rolled his eyes and tolerated it for a moment, and then wiggled out of her grasp and pointed his nose to the rising sun. Trill smiled at him fondly.

"I guess you're right. We had better get started if we plan on making it to this…this _Hogwarts_ by nightfall." Amurensis snorted and sat down hard on the ground "Yes, I agree." She said with a smile. "It _is _an odd name. One wonders where the name…_Hog-warts _came from? "And she trotted over to her campsite to hide the fire and pack the bedding. She stuffed the flint and tinder into her pack, rolled up the bedding and threw it onto her back.

"Here goes." She said nonchalantly to the waiting wolf, and then turned to face the forest where Amurensis had emerged.

The twittering of birds ceased when the lovely sounds of someone else's singing flowed through the branches of the forest. It was an enchanting and haunting song that pealed like a set of clear silver bells, and each creature stopped to listen closely. The song chimed on for only a few seconds until it was ended by a wolf's deep howl.

"Amurensis you old wind bag, you always ruin my song right in the middle!"

"Ah, but if it were up to you there would only _be _a middle! Put a cork in it, Trill, we have to get moving!" The slim, lithe wolf growled and nipped at Amurensis' ear while he trotted off into the woods.

"It was supposed to be impressive, Amurensis, I guess you could _pretend _you were impressed for once?" Trill laughed and jumped playfully around him. Amurensis didn't answer but rolled his eyes and kept moving.

"Fine then." Trill set her snout into the same position of sternness and walked in a stiff gait remarkably like Amurensis'. Amurensis looked back to see her acting and snarled,

"Would you quit it?" Trill giggled, but stopped. There was silence for a few minutes before Trill spoke again.

"You're so much more loveable when I'm a human and you're a wolf." She paused. "I don't suppose you could tell me anything about these people we are here to see?" Amurensis blinked at the sudden change of subject.

"I suppose…" he mused. "Very well. His name is Albus Dumbledore. He has asked for us to join the fight against a dark wizard. Very dark, with many followers, who even Dumbledore fears may prevail upon winning the entire magical world. He has in hand a boy, who it has been prophesied is the only one who can and will defeat him, unless he is killed before the duel can take place. His name…is Harry Potter." Trill tripped at the wave of information, and scrambled to catch back up to Amurensis.

"If he is the only one who can defeat him, what are we supposed to do?" Trill asked seriously.

"He is the only one who can defeat him." Amurensis said again, "Unless he is killed _before the duel can take place_." Trill stopped altogether now, and gulped. Amurensis kept walking, and Trill had to run once more to catch up.

"How old is this boy?" She asked softly.

"Fifteen years."

Trill raised her gaze at that. She spoke even softer.

"Fifteen? Then this boy has a journey in front of him from which he most probably will never return."

Amurensis stopped so suddenly that Trill ran into his bushy tail.

"We are here to help in whatever way we may. You, most probably will not be sent out to fight wizards, for you forget my girl, how old you are yourself. You may be assigned to be this boy's protector and I will not have you telling him that it is impossible." It was a command. Trill's mood changed in a blink.

"Yes mother! Aye-aye Captain! Very good, sir! Honestly, Amurensis! Who is the leader of this expedition? Sure you're really a wolf and I'm just in wolf form but that doesn't make you the supreme nacho…" she rambled angrily. He turned around and heaved a sigh, while Trill tittered on behind him.

"Trill dear," he called back.

"What!" she snapped.

"You're beginning to sound like an American." Trill's mouth shut tight at that and they continued the rest of the journey in silence.

Harry leaned his head on his hand and stared at the watch on his wrist, watching the seconds tick by. Professor Binns, the only ghost professor, put new meaning into bored to death. He blinked the emerald green eyes behind the round wire-rimmed glasses, before opening his mouth wide for a jaw-cracking yawn that made him shake his shaggy hair in an effort to be more alert.

_Futile, Harry_. A little voice in his head said to him. He looked at his best friend Ron on his left side to make himself feel better about losing focus. Sure enough, Ron was drooling happily onto the desk next to him, with his quill still in hand and the parchment getting disgustingly soaked by saliva. Harry chuckled. He looked drowsily around the classroom and saw, unsurprisingly, that everyone but Hermione was in almost as bad of shape as Ron, even Malfoy was staring into space with his head in his hands and a mean look on his face. _That means he's daydreaming. _He thought with a laugh to himself. Harry sat up and stretched when Hermione's hand shot into the air, hitting Neville's nose on it's way up.

"Ouch." He mumbled and turned to the other side, rubbing his nose.

"Professor Binns?" Hermione said perkily. Professor Binns looked quite uncannily like a bird ruffling it's feathers when his lecture was so rudely interrupted. "You said the Goblin war of 1812 was also a war in which the muggles unknowingly participated in, because they thought they were just battling other humans, but…"

Harry's attention wandered once again. He stared longingly out of the window at the lush green Quidditch field and imagined himself riding his broom, with the wind blowing through his hair, the weightless sensation. But the two creatures entering the school grounds interrupted these thoughts. Harry elbowed Ron.

"Chocolate frogs..." he muttered. Harry grabbed his sleeve and shook. Ron came grudgingly awake. "Wha-what? Is class over yet?" Ron lifted his head even higher and glanced sadly at the clock. "Nope. What did you wake me for? I was having a lovely dream. We were out playing Quidditch, kicking Slytherin's butt by the way …" Harry put a finger to his lips and pointed out the window. When Ron looked stupidly at the finger in front of his face Harry turned his head toward the people on the grounds. He was immediately awake and they watched the figures curiously for five full minutes.

They seemed to be wandering to and fro across the grounds as if they were looking for something that should be very big, and right in front of their noses.

"It looks like they're looking for the castle. But how stupid, it's right here!" Ron said.

"Maybe they're muggles." Harry said. Ron nodded his head, now wide eyed. "But it looks like they know we're here." They exchanged a worried glance before Harry thought out loud,

"I wonder what Dumbledore is going to do about it?" but they didn't have to wonder for long. The most beautiful sound Harry had ever heard rang through the air like bells, little silver bells that chime in the snow.

"_Dumbledore, here is your aid!_

_We've come; your winter wolf brigade,_

_So let us in, or we'll go back,_

_Myself and my entire pack._

_Your castle though we cannot see,_

_We know you're here, so come, meet me!_

_Though we're a team; all for the light!_

_We will not wait the entire night!"_

Their jaws dropped and they scrambled out of their desks as they heard the heavy oak front doors swing open for the visitors. Now the whole class, who moments before would not have noticed if a meteor had hit the roof, now ran to the window to watch. It was too far away for Harry to pick out their features, but one was definitely a human and one definitely was not. Harry was almost sure that the human was a girl, the way she walked and gestured, and it most certainly could not have been the animal singing. It was just their luck that the bell rang for the class to end at just that moment, and Harry could see excitement flashing across the children's faces as they dashed off to the great hall, supposedly for lunch. And he was right along with them. _What do you think they want?_ He thought._ Dumbledore's aid? _A light flashed in his brain. _Of course! Dumbledore is gathering magical forces to help fight You-know-who! _Harry gulped at the thought. But there was no more time for thinking after that. They had reached the Great Hall, and he waited a moment for a panting Ron and Hermione to catch up before they entered the Hall together.

Students rushed in from every door and Harry could see that the hall beyond the doors was packed with children trying to get a peek at the visitors. He, Ron and Hermione pushed their way through the crowd, Hermione bouncing on her toes to get a better look while Ron was trying to see in between waving arms and turning heads.

"Who do you suppose she is? Is there more than one? Harry, didn't you see them in the window?" Hermione asked curiously, giving up on getting a glimpse of them. When Harry didn't answer right away, she scowled and put her hands on her hips, turning to Ron.

"Well? Did _you _see them?"

"Yeah." Ron answered. " There were definitely two, but I think one of them was a bear or something. A big, white bear. Totally wicked if you ask me!" Ron grinned. "What do you think Harry? What would they want with Dumbledore?" Harry looked at him and lowered his voice, bowing his head. Hermione pushed her way into the circle, refusing to be left out.

"What is it, Harry?" She asked with excitement. Harry knew that she hated to be interrupted during class, but special occasions were special occasions and she was making the most of it.

"I think they're here to help Dumbledore with the war against Voldermort." He whispered. Ron sighed, and put his hands on his knees. Hermione looked as if she were thinking about it and opened her mouth to speak, but Ron came up smiling.

"Well I think that it is going to be the new defense against the dark arts teacher!" The dark arts teacher they had now was, putting it kindly, a little bit rusted at best. He was totally incompetent and Professor Snape had been teaching most of the lessons, along with his own potions class. Professor Hood had been relieved at Snape's offer and had taken the opportunity to disappear whenever possible to Madam Trelawney's divination classroom in the tower.

Harry gave Ron a look that said, _Wha-?_ But by now almost everyone around them had heard him and caught onto the idea. A few moments later they saw Lee Jordan do a jig and whoop and shout,

"Snape is out! We have a new teacher!" They could see signs of celebrating within moments in every corner of the hall, except for the pockets of Slytherin's who looked to be pouting, but believing. Harry threw Ron a dirty looked who smiled shyly and raised his hands and shoulders, trying to look innocent.

"I guess I was right." He said matter of factly with a small smile. Harry was about to say more when Hermione interrupted him saying,

"Oh really Harry! Ron knows you're right, and it's better if everyone thinks that anyway. It would be quite horrible if they thought that they had come to fight for Dumbledore's army!" Harry shut his mouth and nodded, punching a smiling Ron on the shoulder as they took their seats at the table.

Though it was not a feast, every student's eye turned towards the front and silence fell automatically as the headmaster walked toward the front table, followed by two guests.

Dumbledore had indeed taken advantage of the volunteers at his door, and had whisked them off to a nearby room as soon as they had set foot inside. His robes swished as he strode down the hall to McGonagall's office, ushered them inside and swiftly shut the door as soon as both Snape and McGonagall had squeezed their way in. He locked the door silently and swiftly, and put a tough silencing charm on the entire room, and then turned calmly to his visitors. He looked first at Trill with her silver hair and his piercing gaze, and then Amurensis, before turning his remarks to the wolf.

"May I assume that you are Lord Amurensis?" He spoke in calm, unhurried tones despite the fast herding he had done to get them here. He made a small sweep to sit himself in the Professor's desk and motion for them to take a seat as well. Snape and McGonagall stood behind their chairs with their hands clasped in front of them, very official like as well, and Dumbledore waited for their answer, studying Amurensis' face with great interest. He took his time, looking over his spectacles at them with his fingertips touching in front of his nose and his elbows on McGonagall's desk.

Trill looked to Amurensis and waited for him to nod before she sat down, and then all eyes turned to the huge white wolf.

Amurensis tried to find a dignified way to look straight at Dumbledore and talk to him without Trill having to interpret, but he could think of no way but one.

The big white wolf, instead of jumping onto the chair, sat beside it and looked straightforward. Dumbledore realized suddenly what an awkward position he had put the wolf in, and immediately stood up to fix the problem, but there was no need. Amurensis howled very softly a deep mourning howl, and Dumbledore and staff felt their stomachs turn, though Dumbledore hid it very well. He sat down slowly and waited the same as ever in his chair, while the hearts of the others in the room leaped to their throats, and slowly came down again as his song died.

There in the chair sat a sturdy, heavily muscled, giant of a man with a square jaw and sparkling green eyes. He had curly golden hair that fell over his ears and the high cheekbones and arched brow made him look akin to Trill. He turned to face Dumbledore and spoke in a rumbling baritone.

"You assume correctly Albus Dumbledore. I am Lord Amurensis."

Trill felt herself shiver at the timber in his voice that seemed to shake the furniture in the room. It was very rarely that Amurensis would transform into a man, because he, his mother having been a banshee, and his father a wolf, had been born a wolf and was far more comfortable that way. _"Besides," _He would often say. _"I don't see what's so romantic about being human. They're so clumsy and gullible and I know I can never think clearly when I am a one." _

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily behind his spectacles, and the volunteers could see he was amused, but not impressed. This didn't bother Amurensis at all; who thought it would take less time if there were less gawking.

"Excuse me for that," he said so quickly, that they couldn't understand it quite so low. "_Excuse me for that."_ He said more slowly. "We are here in response to your call for aid, Dumbledore. We are ready to defend the magical world from this Lord Voldemort, at whatever cost to ourselves. We are at your disposal, and we trust you." Trill gave him a bizarre look. She never did like it when he was so terribly serious, and was tempted to roll her eyes at him. But now was not the time. Dumbledore answered with a smile, twining his fingers together and putting them down on the table.

"Then we are glad to have you! But I must ask you a question. Are the rest of your forces previously occupied? I did not understand to any length the size of the banshee population, but I had thought it to be more than one." Amurensis' green eyes locked with Dumbledore's warm blue eyes as he spoke.

"You have in front of you the entire banshee population, sir, of all we are aware, and this is the only banshee in the world."

Dumbledore got out of his seat behind McGonagall's desk and approached them with a smile.

"It is by far better to have two dragons on your side, than even one hundred biting flies, Amurensis." He looked them each in the eye and smiled before sitting on the edge of the desk and speaking again. "Now, as for your first assignment, I am afraid that our Defense against the dark arts teacher is frightfully inadequate, and I would be terribly pleased if you would be willing to fill the post?" He asked the question of Amurensis who looked uncomfortably at him and opened his mouth to speak, but Trill answered for him.

"Oh _no_ Sir! Amurensis hates being a human, I just know he would absolutely _abhor_ having to be human all day every day to teach classes, and even at night! Or some students might grow suspicious…" She was cut off when Amurensis tread lightly on her foot to make her shut-up, but he did wait for Dumbledore's answer with a flushed face. Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

"I suppose the young lady could enroll in the classes, as an under-cover body guard, of course and you could join up with those at the Order head quarters…" He looked to them for approval. This time it was Trill, who looked uncomfortable, and she opened her mouth to explain herself but Amurensis shushed her.

"Sir, I would love to do it, but Trill feels she has to baby-sit me, as if she doesn't want to lose me because we're quite nearly the same race." He finished lamely. Dumbledore considered the problem.

"Very well then you must both stay here, and the young lady, if she is adequate with a wand, may teach my Defense Against the Dark Arts class. With your help, I presume? I know neither of you really needs a wand, but the students are without your unique powers." His smile made long wrinkles on his face that somehow, did not make him look any older at all. Amurensis looked relieved.

"Thank you sir." He said sincerely. Then he spoke again. "I guess you would not prefer that we go in battle against the death eaters?" He said eagerly, fearing a disappointing answer. Dumbledore shook his head and said,

"No, this is the greatest service you can do me. First- I desperately need a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, second- I agree with the young lady, you should not be separated from the last of your race, and third and nearly most important- Most of the attacks will not be aimed at the head quarters. The prophecy I have told you about states that only Harry Potter, a boy in this school, can defeat lord Voldemort, and he will do everything in his power to destroy that boy."

The banshee and Amurensis looked shocked, but Dumbledore continued. "The best thing I can do is to keep my most powerful forces here in the castle where the boy is kept, and Voldemort's forces are most likely to be attracted. I am asking you to watch out for him, besides teaching the rest of my students the Defense against the Dark arts." Amurensis nodded dumbly and Trill hung her head. Dumbledore's mouth was very serious, but it soon broke into a smile once more. "Well then! If you have no more questions, I believe it is time for lunch!" He rubbed his long hands together.

"I know the students are also eager to meet you, after that clever tune you sang outside." He cocked an amused eyebrow at Trill and then led them out the door. Amurensis towered above them, two or three feet higher than Trill and a full foot taller than the black-haired Professor with the big nose.

"Severus, Minerva, would you lead our guests to the great hall for lunch? I must inform Professor Hood of this new development." And with a wink he strode off towards the divination classroom.

Amurensis quickly changed back into a wolf with a soft howl and sat on the stone floor to wait for the Professors.

Trill looked at them once and could tell immediately that these were not people to be taken lightly, and wondered how they had gotten through a discussion with the head master without the very littlest input from them. The strict seeming woman with a tight bun on the top of her head introduced herself with a tight smile as Professor Minerva McGonagall. Next the dark-haired man with a big nose stepped forward to introduce himself and Trill noticed a cold, mean glare in his eye when he looked at her.

"I am Professor Severus Snape, welcome to Hogwarts." And he nodded politely, though Trill could tell it pained him. The banshee had barely nodded back before Professor McGonagall bustled in. "The great hall is this way. If you will follow me." And she took off at such a walk that Trill almost had to run to keep up.

The air was so stiff in the hall it almost crackled with silence. Professor Dumbledore led the two visitors up to the staff table, with their footsteps sounding like thunder in the thick silence, until they stopped in front of it and whispers ran through the crowd. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape trailed in behind them and took their seats and the students could tell Snape was not happy. They swelled with hope at the sight of the silver haired lady.

"A Veela." Someone whispered, but the whispers had died down so that the tiny voice could be heard throughout the whole hall. The boy, who was in Hufflepuff, turned very red and ducked his head to hide his face.

Dumbledore smiled a kindly smile that made wrinkles by his eyes and he spoke kindly as well.

"Students!" He began. "May I introduce our visitor, Miss Trill Talu? She is an exchange student from Ireland and I want you to treat her with as much respect as you would show for any of your friends." He looked meaningfully at the crowd, sat in his seat and allowed to Trill find a seat in the throng. Eventually, she came to the end of the table and sat down to eat her lunch alone. Amurensis lay on the floor next to her like a dog with his head on his paws and was not offended in the slightest, but he remained very alert.

The students were stunned, and Harry could see that Lee Jordan and many other students were disappointed.

"There you go! Not a Defense against the Dark Arts teacher? And I have it this afternoon!" Lee wailed. The noise level in the hall went back to normal as the students began talking loudly again.

"Well thank you Lee, getting all our hopes up, I think I might cry!" George Weasley moaned. Fred nodded agreement.

"Yeah, and now class with Snape is going to be doubly horrible. Thinking that we had almost escaped his reign of terror! I knew we shouldn't have let Dumbledore connive us into coming back to school!" Fred pretended to bury his head in his hands and sob with much heaving of the shoulders, until Parvati walked by the table and he sat up smiling a dazzling smile. She smiled openly back at him until Fred winked at her roguishly, and then she stalked off with her nose in the air.

"You know Fred, we gotta work on your lady skills." George whispered. Fred punched him happily and sat down to eat lunch.

Harry meanwhile was smiling triumphantly at Ron, who was too busy being disappointed to care much about Harry's taunts.

"I _told _you so Ron! Defense against the dark arts teacher, ha!"

Hermione cautioned, "But Harry, now…" Harry interrupted.

"I know. It's pretty bad, but if I have to be right I might as well get something out of it." Harry glanced slyly at the sandwich Ron was bringing to his mouth.

"Victor gets the loot!" He cried, and snatched the sandwich out of his hands. Ron of course immediately grabbed for it, but Harry had jumped out of his seat and was dancing away from Ron, laughing and popping a piece of it into his mouth. Ron jumped off of the bench, grabbed Harry's robes, and tackled him to the ground, wrestling the sandwich from him while crushing and shaking the bread and it's contents every where.

By the time Ron had his sandwich back, he held in his hands a crushed tomato, a squished piece of bread and a tiny piece of turkey, which he triumphantly popped into his mouth, right in Harry's face.

"Vic-towr geuts duh loowt!" He said with a smiling mouth full.

"He-hem."

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Harry and Ron gulped together. They lifted their eyes and turned their heads to see the person standing behind them, with a sinking feeling in their stomach, though it was unreasonable to be afraid that they would see behind them Dolores Umbridge; but there it was anyway. They lifted their heads slowly to see… Hermione.

"Hermione!" Ron shouted. "That's not funny! You almost gave Harry and I a heart attack! Really, impersonating that bloody Umbridge…" He kept rambling while Harry spoke. Harry was leaning back on his elbows on the hard stone floor and glaring hard at Hermione.

"Nearly wet myself thanks to you," he mumbled. But Hermione was laughing so hard it looked as if it hurt, and was paying no attention.

"You should have seen your faces!" She burst happily. When finally she had calmed down, she said, "I had come to tell you to stop rolling around on the floor, but I didn't realize till just now what an awful habit I had picked up!" That sent her into gales of laughter once more, and Harry and Ron morosely picked themselves up off of the ground and dusted bits of sandwich off of their robes. They all three of them turned toward the table to gather their things for the next class, when once again someone spoke to them from behind.

"Ahem." This time all three of them stopped and looked at each other, turning with wide eyes to see who was behind them. The woman with the silver hair stood smiling at them warmly, with the most enormous wolf they had ever seen. The woman was only as tall as Hermione, if not smaller, and the wolf at her side came all the way up to her rib cage; it looked to Harry as is she could ride it.

"Hello." She said in a chiming, lovely voice. Ron stared at her with his mouth open wide and Harry would have too, had he not seen how stupid Ron looked, and shut it quickly. Her clothes were tight fitting, and Harry couldn't help but notice the swing of her hips when she walked…and the huge dog looked as if it could swallow him whole. He gulped.

"I guess you already know my name." She said shyly, which Harry thought odd on such a tiny, obviously spunky girl. She was clearly speaking to all of them, but her eyes were most often on him. "My name is Trill Talu and it would be my pleasure to learn yours names as well."

Harry's mouth was dry and the words stuck in his throat, and Ron was opening and closing his mouth like a fish, so Hermione spoke up briskly.

"My name is Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter, and that," she said with a disgusted look at Ron's face, "is Ronald Weasley." Ron managed to squeak out a sentence.

"Call me Ron."

Trill smiled at them. "Thanks." She said. "I'm just learning students names in case I decide to stay here…" she paused, and then realized what she had said and continued. "…Before I return to Ireland, of course." Harry and Ron nodded, but Hermione looked suspicious.

"You don't sound very Irish." She said almost offhand. Trill laughed it off.

"I'm not in Ireland very much so the accent is very small. In fact, I am more often in the United States than anywhere. The Salem School of witchcraft and wizardry is very…erm…interesting." Harry was now looking at the wolf by her side and had asked its name before he had even decided.

"What is his name?" He asked curiously, nodding and pointing to Amurensis. "That's really the biggest dog I've ever seen." Amurensis' eyes turned to slits at the 'dog', but otherwise he gave no sign that he understood.

"This is Amurensis." Trill said, scratching the ruff around his neck, which Amurensis grudgingly allowed. "He's actually a timber wolf from Siberia, but he's the sweetest thing you ever saw… and he adores children." Trill added the last bit with a huge twinkle in her eye. "He's a real sweetie pie and loves being around people." Ron, in response, came up and tried to scratch Amurensis under the chin, who immediately stiffened up, but allowed it, all the while glaring at Trill. Trill glared back and nodded her head very slightly toward Hermione, who was glaring in turn. After that Amurensis turned his head and pretended be enjoying the scratching and petting.

Harry came to join Ron in the petting of Amurensis and looked closely at Trill. She did not look to be much older than a fourth year, but that could just be that she looked young. And she did not have the demeanor of an emissary, the cute little dimple in her cheek and the lack of much of an Irish accent made her story seem questionable. And the hair. No, she couldn't be an emissary, or a spy for that matter. Harry wouldn't look twice if she came here as a student.

_Yes you would. _Said that nasty little teasing voice in his brain. _You might even stare. _Harry turned red and imagined that it winked at him. He was saved the uncomfortable question of explaining the blush in his cheeks, by the ringing of the bell signaling the end of lunch break.

"Well," he said, avoiding eye contact, "I guess we have to go to class guys." And he nearly turned away from her, but stopped and asked very friendly like, "What classes do you have next?" He could see her face brighten so fast that he felt very good that he had stopped and asked.

"I…I have potions, I think." She grabbed something out of her pocket. "Ah, no. Transfiguration. You?" She looked almost pleadingly at them, and Ron fumbled with his words.

"Divine-um…Divination." Trill frowned and shook her head.

"I don't have that until tomorrow." She sighed.

"Well!" Hermione said happily. "That's too bad!" And grabbed Ron's bag, pulling him behind her.

"Bye!" He and Harry waved, Ron stumbling as Hermione pulled him along.

Trill frowned in thought. If that Hermione girl wasn't going to let her stay by Harry's side, then she was going to have to get her out of the way.


	2. Of Body Guards and Friends

**Of Body Guards and Friends**

"I have told the students-" Dumbledore said with his back to Trill. "…that your little display was simply some Irish magic in case you got lost or couldn't see the castle." He turned around and his eyes glittered. "I really couldn't think of any other reason for your behavior." He said, looking her in the eye. Trill shrugged uncomfortably. "That's quite a mess you've made." He sat in the desk and relaxed, becoming kindly once more. "And have you considered our other dilemma?"

Trill flared up light a firecracker at this welcoming statement. "Dumbledore, sir, I have racked my brains. I can find _no other solution! _Not one that I don't totally abhor, anyway!" Trill sat in the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk with her arms crossed, like a rebellious student. "They're very good, protective and obedient body guards, and besides that, I like having a wolf with me. It is _so _much better than a cat or rat, or even an owl!" Dumbledore was smiling slightly, and so Trill changed her approach to one of begging. She jumped to her knees and knelt in front of his chair, bowing before him.

"Pleeeease Professor! I beg of you, let me get another wolf like Amurensis to take his place while he teaches! I've already introduced him to the students, and they would wonder about me if I left him behind!"

"You could tell them I disapprove of having any animal other than a cat, an owl, a toad or a rat, which I do." Trill begged some more.

"Pleeeeeeeaaaase! I will be miserable!" Dumbledore was smiling even wider now.

"Hmmm…" Trill looked him in the eye and puckered out her lips in the most dramatic form she could erect.

"Very well then. But how, may I ask, are you going to get an enormous white timber wolf all of the way from Alaska?" Trill stood up and grinned, which emphasized her dimples. Dumbledore sighed. What had he done?

"And he let you bring another wolf?" Amurensis was shocked. Trill scratched the new white wolf behind his ears, and this wolf did not have to pretend to enjoy it.

"Isn't he just perfect?" Trill cooed. Amurensis frowned.

"Only because you made him that way." Trill was hurt.

"Not so! I picked the one with the sweetest personality and then made him look like you." She put her attention back to the wolf. Amurensis said seriously,

"You do know that my mother, who was a Banshee, mated a wolf, don't you?" Trill threw him a disgusted glance.

"I'm not going to marry him, Amurensis." She stopped. "Ugh." And kissed the wolf on the nose. "Now there's only the problem of what his name is going to be." Trill looked slyly at Amurensis, who cocked his eyebrows.

"You're not naming him Amurensis." He said firmly. His mouth was set, but Trill rolled her eyes.

"His name has got to be Amurensis, I already told the students that that was what his name was. But I guess we could call him Amuren." She had a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "And besides, Professors are always called by their last names anyway." Amurensis looked stubborn.

"I haven't got a last name." Trill caught herself snorting, but stopped herself in time.

"Aye, now there's the rub. How about…Stephen?" Amurensis shook his head. "Williams?" Amurensis made gagging motions. "How about Smith?" He yawned. "Well you have to help me think!" She stood up and put her hands on her hips to look more impressive. But Amurensis stood up as well and towered nearly two to three feet above her, her eyes followed his face on the way up until she was craning to see his face. "How about we call you Hughes, the French word for HUGE!" She called, smiling her dimpled smile.

"How tall are you anyway?" He asked her, neck bent. Trill blushed and mumbled,

"Nine and a half decimeters in metric, or four feet nine inches otherwise, last I checked." She turned herself back to the wolf who was nuzzling her leg.

"And you?" She asked defiantly, looking up at him.

"Six feet, ten inches." He smirked. "That's makes me a full four decimeters taller than you in metric or two feet and one inch taller than you otherwise." He grinned at her choice of words.

Trill stood up dejectedly and motioned for the wolf to follow as she walked to the door. "Well I've thought of a good name for you." She said at last. "How about Professor Kyan?" And then hurried out before he could answer.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran through the halls on their way to dinner the very next night. Hermione was trying to force them to stuff their faces as quickly as they could so they could rush off to the library to do some research on Moonstones for Snape. Harry stopped to catch his breath with his hands on his knees.

"For goodness sake Hermione, the library will still be open after dinner! What's the big rush?" Ron skidded to a halt and Hermione turned around, hands on hips.

"I am _not _going to just give you the answers this time!" She strode up to him. "I am giving you plenty of time to _do-it-your-self!_" Harry backed off with each emphasized word while Hermione poked him in the chest. And then she stalked off to the Great Hall.

"What's the matter with her?" Harry asked, rubbing his chest.

"Dunno." Ron answered. "I bet it's that new girl. She was pretty upset about her yesterday. I can't make out _why _she doesn't like her though."

"Maybe she's got a thing against the Irish… or maybe it's Americans." Harry mused out loud, shouldering his bag. "But the way you were gawking at that girl, I wouldn't be surprised if Hermione were jealous." And he skipped out of the way of Ron's swinging fist.

"What! Hermione? Jealous? Why should she be jealous!" He said through clenched teeth, grabbing Harry in a headlock.

"It's-argh! _It's- really-quite-obvious- Ron_!" Ron released him almost immediately and Harry stood back smiling and arranging his glasses on his nose. Ron now stood in front of him swallowing hard.

"Do you really think..?" His eyes grew wide. "No, she just doesn't like her and doesn't want to be friends, that's all." He gulped all the same.

"C'mon Ron." Harry said, smiling and shouldering his bag. Then he walked briskly off to the Great Hall in imitation of Hermione.

Trill saw Hermione enter first. Then Harry and Ron a few minutes later. Hope swelled within her that they had disowned _that_ girl as a friend, and she could watch over Harry without interruption. But no, they had already gone to sit by her. Trill felt the sinking disappointment, but made herself look at the bright side.

_There's that red haired boy, Ronald, wasn't it? He doesn't look too happy about sitting by Hermione. Aha! _She exclaimed to herself. _There, he's nudging Harry to sit by her. Maybe…_She looked thoughtful now. _Maybe I can work from the inside out. _She was smiling now. Already her devious little mind was working up ways to turn Ron against Hermione. _I could start with…_she thought, and the wheels in her mind whirred as quickly as the current in a whirlpool as she walked to the Gryffindortable.

"Hey there!" She exclaimed, pretending to have just noticed them. She trotted to the seat beside Ron, closely followed by the new Amuren. She stood next to him with a dimpled smile.

"May I?" Ron nodded, and she sat next to him. Trill had to stop herself from sighing in preparation. English boys were never known for coming up with conversations. They probably considered it the woman's job. Ron noticed the new quirk in her smile.

"What's so funny?" He asked. Trill was surprised, but was never hard pressed to make up a lie. The best lies, she found, were the ones with the most truth in it, and only an occasional half-truth to give it the right light.

"Oh! Well..." She brought her hand up to cover her smile. "Did you know that your pictures move? Yes I suppose you do." She said when his expression didn't change. "But did you know that," She stopped smiling now and leaned in to whisper "You have a…a poltergeist?" Ron laughed.

"Oh yeah, Peeves is a real pain right enough. What happened?" He looked to be anxiously waiting, so Trill recounted most of the previous encounter to him.

"He…this Peeves as you call him was blowing in my ear while I was waiting to get into the charms classroom, and so I reached back to hit whoever it was and there was a big suit of armor, where there had just been, well, the hallway." Trill now decided to drop the pretense of being a sweet girl. "You can imagine how…surprised… I was, so I screamed, and out flew a little man in a turban, cackling at me. I told him to shut-up and get lost, but he just began mimicking me and zoomed off, even dropping some chalk on my head."

Trill tried hard to look unhappy and annoyed, but she had left out her favorite part of the story where she told him to shut-up and he did. He had covered his ears at the banshee scream and gone into a full body bind, landing head first in an umbrella stand. Trill had dusted off the chalk while stuffing two sticks of it up his nose. Ron looked at the fake, annoyed face and said,

"Yeah, Peeves doesn't listen to anyone," Trill was secretly delighted, "Except for the bloody baron. He's the Slytherin ghost." He pointed to the Slytherin table. Trill turned her head to see a silvery white ghost shimmering near the food and she gulped upon seeing that he was covered in blood.

"Why is there blood all over his clothes?" She asked. Ron shook his head.

"No one knows. Not even anyone in Slytherin, I'm guessing." He glared at the Slytherin table. Trill had already gathered that the Slytherin and Gryffindor were the worst of enemies. The headmaster had placed her in Gryffindor, so she could watch over Harry, but she looked longingly at the silver and green table. All she knew, however, was that the Slytherin boys were terribly witty and that the Gryffindor students were painfully noble, not much to go on, but it was a start.

_I guess I had better not tell Ron about Draco. _She mused. Just the other day she had met a wonderful gentleman, just for a moment, who went by the name of Draco Malfoy. Their personalities had immediately clicked, and not the fake, semi-sweet personality she had adopted, but the real quirky girl that lay underneath. His witty, insolent attitude went well with hers, even though she had barely talked to him for more than a minute. _If only Harry could have been friends with Draco Malfoy, then my job would have been much easier. _She thought. _Oh well, Ronald is a nice boy. _But she glanced over to the Slytherin Table all the same.Amuren licked her hand.

"Aaaak!" She shrieked, thoughts tearing away from Slytherin. "Amuren!" Ron looked at her and then the wolf, and scratched him behind the ears. Trill glared. Ron smiled. And then they laughed together, making Harry and Hermione look over from what they had been discussing. Hermione's eyes narrowed at the sight of Trill, and Harry seemed hesitant.

"Ah! Harry, Hermione! How are you this fine morning?" She smiled at them. Hermione must have noticed that she was glaring and decided to play along, and so softened her gaze.

"We're just fine, thank you. What about you, Harry?" She smiled forcefully at Harry, who looked to be pondering. Trill's eyes narrowed. What had they been talking about? Hermione must have known she was there the entire time. Trill made a mental note to herself not to underestimate this girl.

Trill's attention was lost when Dumbledore stood up smiling. The hall quieted somewhat.

"I must regret to inform you that Professor Hood has resigned." A cheer went up from the crowd, until Dumbledore's eyes glittered. "We shall miss him very much." He emphasized. He paused and then continued.

"But I am glad to say that his place shall be taken by our new, Professor Kyan. Welcome, Professor." He made a sweep with his arm, indicating the giant of a man emerging from the shadows. Ron grinned at a stunned Harry and picked the sandwich out of his hands. This time the crowd roared and Trill's mouth went dry. Amurensis was dressed in deep green robes that pulled tight against his broad chest and, Trill thought, went very nicely with his golden hair. Professor Kyan smiled a small, crooked smile in her direction.

History of magic came and went, and Trill began to look forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts, where she knew Hermione Granger would be there. In fact, Trill found out, that she did in fact, have almost every class with the threesome, if not all. _Hermione must be suspicious because of that first time I lied to her. _She thought back.

"_I…I have potions, I think." She grabbed something out of her pocket. "Ah, no. Transfiguration. You?" She looked almost pleadingly at them, and Ron fumbled with his words._

"_Divine-um…Divination." Trill frowned and shook her head. _

"_I don't have that until tomorrow." She sighed._

"_Well!" Hermione said happily. "That's too bad!" And grabbed Ron's bag, pulling him behind her._

"_Bye!" He and Harry waved, Ron stumbling as Hermione pulled him along._

Trill was relieved. _That must be why she dislikes me. _She thought. _Maybe I can get closer anyhow, if that's the only reason. _So off she trudged, looking forward to seeing 'Professor Kyan' teach with a wand.

Trill walked into the Defense against the Dark Arts room with her bag slung across one shoulder and the outer black robe over her usual white attire. She had been challenged once or twice by a few of the more strict teachers like McGonagall about her clothing, but had eventually gotten away with it because she was new. The students accepted it because _everything_ about her was strange. An Irish girl, coming from the US Salem School with an enormous Siberian Timber wolf in tow.

Trill sat in the very back of the class so she could see the door and the window and every movement the children in front of her made. Harry Potter would not die in Defense Against The Dark Arts. She lounged in her chair to watch Harry's threesome march into class, and to her delight, sit on the very front row. Trill smiled coyly and waved to Ron, who blushed, and looked as if her were going to say something before Hermione spoke something to him first. Trill sighed and looked anxiously around for Amurensis. He was not in the classroom yet, and so Trill flipped un-interested through her Defense Against the Dark Arts, Volume six. She was absolutely sure she knew almost everything this book could hold and so she barely skimmed the pages, looking for interesting chapters. Very suddenly, a chapter on Irish and Scottish lore caught her eye. She turned slowly through the chapter, stopping dead on the section about Banshees and changelings.

"Long ago, it was a common fear among new mothers in Ireland that their infant might be a changeling - a fairy which has taken the shape of a human. Since this was apparently not a desirable situation, there were tests which suspicious parents would carry out to make sure their child was human. Changelings were said to despise water, so the child's mother would carry the child while stepping over a river, believing that a changeling would reveal itself rather than be forced to get that close to water." Trill gulped and read on, discovering to her horror, how to recognize a changeling, noting them in her head and ticking them off. Hates large amounts of water, unusually large or small, no definite age, and eyes change color every week or month, or even every day or so. Though they were very small, obscure hints, Trill knew that each and every one of these applied to Amurensis. Trill read on to the banshee's.

"There are also some less benign superstitions held by the Irish, one of which is that of the Bean Sidhe, commonly known as the Banshee. The wailing of these ghostly "women of the hills" was said to foretell death and the wailing of more than one banshee was believed to foretell the death of someone important." Trill sighed and smiled. At least that was all they knew of Banshee's. Her heart caught in her throat at the next chapter.

"At least, that is what the popular muggle belief is. Banshee's are in fact, 'women of the hills' with strange unearthly voices, but have been known to sing in the magical world, for almost any other occasion. There is great power to be found in a banshee's voice, and were you to come across a banshee, she could hold your mind in her hands and shape it like clay to her will.

One muggle witness was there, listening the night that a very famous, holy man had died. The banshee's sang to mourn his loss, and it is now 'fact' among the muggles that these women sing only when someone is about to die.

Banshee's have become very scarce over a 700 year period, and not a single one has been sighted for at least 20 years, though this could be only because they wish not to be seen."

Trill looked up from the book and let her gaze wander for a moment around the room, wondering where Amurensis could be thirty seconds before his first lesson. She shook her long sliver braid and looked back to the book.

"A new sub-species of banshee is the Veela from Bulgaria. Possessing somewhat the same powers in their song as the Banshee, they are also known for their irresistible lure of the body. A break off from the Banshee, they posses the same power in lure but miniscule power in the song compared with their ancestral 'women of the hills'…"

Trill skimmed down to the bottom of the page telling on how to recognize a Banshee. Once again she was in for a nasty shock.

"Banshee's are always women very small in stature, but very commanding. Like the Veela, the Banshee has long, silver hair and is very attractive, usually with a dimple in their left cheek. They have been known to crave attention. Banshee's can only be born in Ireland, their homeland."

Trill didn't even have to think to know that the description fit her like a glove. She looked hastily around the room, knowing full well that if anyone smarter than a trained monkey were to read this, they would know it was she. She was worrying about the problem with a tight knot in her stomach when Draco Malfoy came in the door. She was so immensely happy to see that he was in her class that she didn't see how angry Harry and Ron and Hermione were to see him. They glared at her when he sat in the next seat, but Trill's stomach did another summersault when he sat down next to her. She smiled as broadly as ever.

"Hey." He said charmingly. Trill almost gulped, but managed to squeak out a 'hey' in return, surprised at how calm she sounded. _What's the matter with you woman? _She shouted at herself, and barely slapped herself into control. "Is this seat taken?" It was a stupid question, seeing as he had already sat down, but she lifted her hand, closed her eyes, and motioned that it was all his. When he didn't look away, she talked to break the silence.

"Didn't we meet in the hall the other day?" She asked. Malfoy looked studious.

"You know, I think we might have. Your name is Trill, right?" He asked.

Trill answered, "And your name is Draco Malfoy." She smiled at him and held out her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you once again." And they shook hands. There was a pause before he spoke.

"I don't suppose you could tell me what class you have next, so I can forgo the pleasure of meeting you all over again?"

"I have lunch, and then potions, what about you?" Malfoy smiled and leaned over the side of his chair, motioning for her to come closer. He looked around she began to feel all fluttery inside, but he said,

"I can't give out my schedule to babes anymore. They all start stalking me and I usually end up being late for class because of the mobs." He slicked back his hair with his hand and Trill giggled despite herself. She leaned in and whispered back, shaking her head slowly and looking into his eyes. She clicked her tongue.

"That's too bad. I don't know what to tell you." And she shrugged her shoulders. They laughed together, and Trill was thrilled to see they were just a couple inches away from each other's faces.

Amurensis gave a loud _bang _as he strode through the door to the front of the class, and Amuren the wolf looked up from where he was lying with his head on his paws, barking happily until Trill looked away from Malfoy and shushed him.

"Welcome." He said to the students. The room was immediately quiet in awe of the low rumble coming from the man's mouth. The black robes he wore now pulled tight across his chest and shoulders and Trill determined that the every pair of robes he owned must be too small for him.

"I am Professor Kyan." He said. "My favorite color is green, I like tropical beaches and fruit drinks and I play the guitar moderately well. That's all you need to know about me, so I'm going to start now." He leaned down to look at the notes on his desk, and lifted it back quickly to see the students looking at each other with arched eyebrows. "And I won't pretend that I care what your favorite color is so you can forget about it." Someone in the back snorted.

Trill glanced at a girl who was staring dreamy eyed at Amurensis, and closed her eyes when the girl turned to her friend and began whispering. Trill noticed with something close to jealousy that the two girl's giggling was about Amurensis' broad shoulders and golden hair. Amurensis turned to look at them.

"Well?" He said obviously. The girl, blushed, and said,

"We were just wondering…how old you are." And she turned scarlet when he cocked an eyebrow.

"And if you're married!" A girl's voice piped in. Amurensis was slightly ruffled and blushed furiously before he replied,

"I'm as old as I need to be to teach this class, and if I were married, do you think I would want to teach at all?" That got a few laughs, and Amurensis smiled broadly and kindly before beginning.

"What do you know about how a Grindylow thinks?" The students were puzzled and caught off guard. This was third year material, but Hermione raised her hand anyway.

"A Grindylow is only found in regions where…" Professor Kyan interrupted her.

"We already know where the Grindylow lives. Tell me about the Grindylow itself. Why, do you suppose, it attacks some travelers and not others?" Amurensis raised his hands in a mocking stance, "Because that's when it feels like it?" The students were silent.

"A Grindylow is a vertebrae, it has a skeleton and so therefore has personality." He looked them in the eye with his deep green eyes. "What kind of personality does a Grindylow, have?" When nobody answered, but stared raptly at him, he went to a tank by the side of the classroom and pulled out a slimy, squirming, Grindylow, holding it up for them to see. Some of the students were rubbing their arms as if to scrub off slime, and still others were sitting with mouths open and ready to bite.

Trill was disgusted by their behavior, and nearly screamed when she looked at Malfoy who was baring his teeth at Harry Potter. Harry in return looked as if he were showing off claws that he didn't have, and Hermione was being fiercely possessive of Ron. _Why would Harry and Malfoy fight?_ She wondered. There was a very strange sleepy atmosphere to the room, and Trill stood up to defend Harry from the strange magic, pulling out her wand which she knew she wouldn't use. But Amurensis caught her eye and shook her head, making sitting motions with his hands.

"A Grindylow is evil, right?" He continued. The class nodded and some began to feel hate toward the Grindylow in his hands. There were clenched fists and grinding teeth, and Malfoy and Harry were getting out of their chairs. Amurensis must have found that his students were getting violent and broke character and snorted, leaning his head down, and throwing the Grindylow to the floor. Someone shrieked when it hit, but now they could see that it was really a black ball covered in seaweed.

Amurensis wiped tears of laughter from his eyes and said happily to himself,

"Every time! You would make wonderful little Grindylow's!" And then straightened up with a huge grin on his face. Trill, who was suddenly remembering her own lessons said loudly,

"Not funny." And there was a rumble of agreement as the spell wore off. Amurensis gave Trill a look and then moved aside a stack of papers so he could lean against the desk, still smirking.

"Today we will be learning how to block unwelcome mind control spells, everyone wands out…" And part B of the lesson began.

The rest of his lesson went wonderfully well, Trill thought. Amurensis used the Banshee in his voice (from his mother's side, Trill thought smugly) to hypnotize them several more times after he had taught them the spell, and by the end of the class everyone was worn out, and felt as if their emotions had been wrung dry.

Trill waved good-bye to Malfoy and said, "Don't let those screaming girls get to you Malfoy, you're still a good person very deep down." And he grinned back.

"Shows what you know." And he left. Trill then tried to catch Ron's eye as well, but he seemed very in-observant, and left with a very satisfied Hermione.

Trill crawled through the hole behind the portrait of the fat lady and made her way up the stairs to the girls dormitory. She and Amurensis had done some hard magical practicing together and she was bone weary, only stopping to cuff Fred and George Weasley on the head, and duck behind a couch. Unfortunately, once she was down there, she didn't have the strength to get back up, and nearly drifted off, if it hadn't been for the pillow thrown intoher face.

"Ouch." She muttered sleepily, pulling it under her head and snuggling into it.

"Alright." George said, annoyed, "Who stole that pillow I was practicing with?" He looked around the common room to Fred who was trying hard to look innocent.

"Fred! I need that pillow!" Fred looked up from his homework, pointing disbeleiving to himself.

"I can't believe you would accuse me of such an awful crime!" He sniffed and began to get teary eyed. "When it was probably that slug behind the couch." George whipped out his wand and stalked behind Fred's chair, tripping over a pair of legs and falling on his face.

"Aha!" He snatched the pillow. "Thank you very much!" Trill moaned and hauled herself to her feet, glaring back at him.

"You'll regret this George Weasley!" she tried to shake a fist at him, but only got it half way up before she let it drop and made her way up the stairs, nuttering to herself about. "_Can't let a poor girl get some sleep, what a-" _Fred laughed raucously at George who began his practicing in earnest, throwing the pillow across the room into Trill's back with his wand. She fell on the stairs and groaned, pulling the pillow under her head once again, and fell asleep.

Trill sat up with a jolt at the sound of someone entering the room. She saw to her horror that it was Hermione.

"Where have you been?" She whispered. She knew deep down that she had been wandering the halls with Harry and Ron and the invisibility cloak. Hermione jumped at her voice.

"I needed a drink." Trill shook her head.

"Hey, listen." Trill said to her. "We aren't really friends, you know, and I feel real dumb, cause I don't even know why." She held out her hand with a smile and Hermione stiffened up.

"I know why." She came closer to Trill. "You haven't got an Irish name, you haven't got an Irish accent, you hang out with Draco Malfoy, and I trust you about as far as I can throw you." Trill stopped smmiling and lowered her hand as Hermion stalked off to her bed.

"That's a terrible cliché, you know. 'I trust you about as far as I can throw you'." Trill listened happily to the angry silence coming from Hermione and layed back in bed.

_They can't say I didn't try. _She said to herself, and went back to sleep, dreaming up new plans.


	3. The cold war

**The cold war.**

Harry hated Draco, Malfoy hated Potter. That was the way things were, always had been, and always would be. Trill was brooding in Potions, sitting just a few feet from each boy. It wouldn't do to become Harry's enemy. But Malfoy was so entertaining, it reminded her of her stay in the US, and Harry and co. were so… she looked at Hermione. Cold and unwelcoming was the phrase she preferred. She had been following him discreetly wherever he went in he hall, and it was becoming extremely difficult to keep track of him, it would be much easier if she could just walk with him. She stirred her potion nonchalantly, throwing in whatever she pleased. If by the end she hadn't made it right, (and she very greatly doubted that she had) then she would sing her potion a little song and _make_ it right. Amurensis had told her not to cheat time and time again, and she never got away with it in his class, but it was just too easy not to do the work.

"_Someday." _He had said seriously. _"There will come a time when you will have a sore throat and you won't know a single spell to save yours, or Harry's, life." _Trill had looked at him quizzically.

"_Why would I be stupid enough to let myself get a sore throat?" _She asked, teasing him dreadfully. Amurensis had closed his eyes and Trill could see him counting to ten in his mind. She hopped up to the side of his desk and gave him a tiny peck on the mouth, sprinting out of the door before he blew up.

"_And It is **absolutely**_ _against the rules to kiss the teachers!" _He roared.

Trill giggled to herself, but quickly stifled the noise. Professor Snape was prowling the aisles, looking into people's cauldron's and writing notes on a piece of paper or making snide comments. Now _there _was something she agreed with the Gryffindor's about. That was a nasty piece of work they had there. It wasn't that he was too ugly, but his demeanor made it totally impossible to pity him his pathetic, lonely fate. And the big crooked nose didn't help either. Trill looked back to Malfoy and sighed.

If it didn't work out to get Hermione out of their group, she would just have to watch him from a distance, setting alarms on the doors at night so that he couldn't leave in his invisibility cloak. She may even have to put something in his brain that told her when he was in trouble. That would be the easiest. She grinned, thinking of what his face would look like when she told him she wanted to implant something into his brain.

"_Open wide, Harry!" The witch doctor cackled. 'This won't hurt a bit…I promise! Ahahahaha…!" _

Professor Snape was coming towards her now, and she quickly sang it a quiet song, turning it into the perfect cure for warts. Professor Snape came to her cauldron, and she smiled at him like she did everyone else, trying not to gag. He stopped, looked inside of the cauldron and sneered at her.

"Your potion, Miss Talu. What have you been doing this whole time?" Trill cocked an eyebrow, knowing full well that her potion was more perfect than any he could make himself. Hermione laughed a tiny gleeful laugh.

"What?" She said. Professor Snape leaned in close.

"Everyone else's potion is green, Miss Talu. Yours is white. Care to explain?" Trill gulped and glanced at her partner's cauldron. Bang.

She gave him a wanna-be-innocent look and shrugged her shoulders, smiling guiltily, gesturing widely with her hands and opening and closing her mouth a few times.

"Um…er… Well green is just such an ugly color and I thought… that it would look much better as a white potion, you see. I have no doubt that it works." She said. Snape tapped his paper with his quill, and then said menacingly,

"Ten points from Gryffindor, and I would like to see you after class, Miss Talu." Striding to the front and sitting in his desk with a wide sweep of his robe. Trill put her chin in her hands and turned around to give Malfoy a pathetic look who in return made a piggy face at her. Trill stuck out her tongue and made the most disgusting face she could manage, until Malfoy laughed halfheartedly and looked away from the embarrassing sight. Snape looked and saw that it was only Malfoy and said,

"Quiet please, class." And then turned to his notes again. Trill gave him a look that said, _what did I tell you? _And he just shrugged happily. Trill slapped a hand over one eye, glaring at him through the other.

There were just three things that bothered her about Malfoy. The first, was his two cronies Crabbe and Goyle that were always hanging about. It made it hard to have a good conversation. Second was that Harry Potter and every Gryffindor that had ever known him hated him. And third was the stories she had heard about him from the common room. They most of them could just be malicious lies, but there had to be some reason they hated him so much, and she could not tell the truth from the lie.

After the bell had rung, Trill slowly made her way up to Snape's desk, waving glumly to Malfoy on his way out.

"Miss Talu." Snape said. Trill stood in front of his desk with her head down and her eyes up, looking at his especially large nose. She jumped at his sudden movement as he stood in front of her. "I know what you are Miss Talu, and I know what you can do." He strode around the desk. "And I must insist that you do not use them in here." He looked at her closely. "If I catch you once more," He held up his finger menacingly and let the phrase hang. He came back around to his seat but still stood. "Even if you are Mr. Potter's 'body guard' shall we say, you are still a student here."

"_How annoying." _Trill thought to herself. "_How dare he look down that enormous, slimy, bulb of a nose at me!'_

She had about decided to put a puncture in his swollen face, but thought better of it and swallowed her pride instead. She almost thought she saw Snape smile when he saw it, but she knew he couldn't have when she saw his face.

"You may go..." She sighed and turned around to leave the classroom and was halfway across the floor when he spoke again. "Little Lap dog."

Her face turned purple with rage. "_How dare he!" _She nearly screamed. She collected herself and then turned to face him. "J_ust stay out of my way." _Trill locked eyes with him tightly, lacing her voice with Banshee song. It took all of her effort not to throw him across the room with her own hands.

"Professor Snape." She said firmly. He fell silent. "Have a seat." He sat. "I am here to be Mr. Potter's _body-guard_ and _only_ Mr Potter's body-guard, and if you will recall, you were there, I was offered the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher before being assigned to this post. I would thank you kindly to leave me alone to my work." And she strode out of the room, leaving behind a dazed Professor Snape.

Upon immerging from the room she looked around her for Harry, but saw no sign of him in the hall. "Some bodyguard you are."She muttered to herself.

Malfoy was waiting for he out in the hall. "Hey Trill, what did he say?" He asked her. Trill sighed dramatically and put on a show for him.

"It was horrible!" She wailed, sobbing into her sleeve. Malfoy leaned over eagerly.

"What did he say?" Trill gave up the look and shrugged her shoulders.

"Nothing. He almost gave me detention and he's probably throwing away my potion right now." She tried very hard to look unhappy. Malfoy grinned and said,

"Ha ha, Trill's gonna fail potions!" Crabbe and Goyle laughed stupidly along with him and Trill pretended not to notice.

"Shut-up Draco." She pushed him with a smile. He pretended to stumble and fall from the tiny shove and lay moaning dramatically on the floor.

"Oh, ouch, Trill! You've killed me, oh it hurts!" Trill might have thought it funny had not Crabbe and Goyle come running to his aid, pushing her out of the way.

"Idiots!" Malfoy whispered to them, and smiled up into Trill's face. All of a sudden he grabbed her silver braid and yanked on it, pulling her to the floor, and Trill shrieked in surprise, grabbing at his blond hair in an effort to get free. She breathed a sigh of relief that no one was around… or so she thought.

Just as luck would have it, Hermione flounced by with her nose in the air and Trill rolled away from Malfoy, standing up and dusting off her robes. Malfoy though, lay back leisurely on his elbows, regarding Hermione with a snort to his cronies that everyone heard and everyone noticed. But he stood up slowly when Harry came into view.

"Hello Potter." He said. He looked sympathetically at him. "Have you lost your pet beaver? Because I think she went that way." He pointed to Hermione disappearing down the corridor.

"Shut up Malfoy." Harry said vehemently. Ron came into view and came to stand by Harry, whispering into his ear, "Where did Hermione go?" Malfoy snickered and pointed down the hall with a look at Harry.

Trill, in an effort to lighten the mood, laughed as if it were a joke and smiled kindly at Ron, who looked surprised. Harry took on Hermione's cold attitude towards her. That would never do.

Malfoy's eyes turned to slits at the sight of her smile and the look quickly became a boorish one. He turned to Crabbe and Goyle.

"Well," He sniffed. "We've done all we can do to help them in their search. Let's go." And he strutted off down the hall, followed by Crabbe and Goyle. Trill looked sadly after him, but saw Ron and Harry looking at her. She felt embarrassed all of a sudden.

"She um…Hermione that is," She made wide motions with her hands pointing down the hall. She stopped and dropped her hands, pointing with a straight arm down the hall. "That way." She said finally. They looked embarrassed as well, and Ron looked away, his ears turning red.

"Thanks." Harry said, and began walking down the hall.

"See you in Herbology!" She shouted after him. Harry turned back and waved.

"See you then." She whispered. As soon as he was out of sight Trill let herself do a little jig. It was a start.

"You know," Trill said to Eloise Midgeon in Herbology. "I used to have the worst acne in the world." Eloise gave her a skeptical look and then shot her eyes back to her plant when Trill looked in her direction. She could see Eloise was going red, so she continued to speak to the ceiling. "But at the Salem School of Witchcraft, we had to go and meet some muggle people. One of them suggested something to me called Clearasil." She frowned with pretend hurt. "She was very rude about it, but it really worked. Three days, and I was acne free!" She glanced over at Eloise Midgeon who was beginning to get misty eyed.

"_Not quite as subtle as I'd hoped, I guess." _She sighed, and looked around.

"But I guess no one in England gets zits anymore!" She proclaimed, turning back to her plant with a smile.

Harry watched Trill from the corner of his eye. She was saying something to Eloise, and he hurriedly turned back to his pot to avoid her gaze.

"Ron." He said quietly. Ron gave up on the sickly yellow plant in front of his and kicked the counter in frustration.

"Yikes!" He shrieked when it squirted some yellow juice onto his hand. He danced around for a moment, sucking on his finger, and turned to Harry with his knuckle in his mouth. "Wa'!" He tried to say around his mouth full. He took out his fist. "What?" Harry chuckled at him and Ron wiped the saliva off onto his robe. Ron rolled his eyes and was about to get back to work on trimming the leaves, when Harry leaned in and whispered softly to him, glancing back at Trill.

"I think…I think Trill is following me." Ron didn't even take his eyes away from his work.

"And I think you're dreaming the boyish fantasy of every guy in this school." He didn't even look at Harry.

"Every time I look behind me in the halls and in class she's there, sometimes just staring at us…you know? And if it's not her it's her dog."

"Harry." Ron said matter of factly, turning to face him and put his hands on his hips. "She's in Gryffindor. Of _course _she's in every one of your classes! Sometimes I think…" He rambled off into unintelligible words but Harry continued anyway.

"And she always seems to be in class before I am, and leave the class before I do."

"You're paranoid, Harry." Ron said in an uncaring voice. "Now could you hold this little booger still while I give him a trim?" Harry held the stalk for him and the little tree cringed, even wailed as the shears approached.

"Oh really!" He said, imitating Hermione. "You're about as silly as Harry! This won't hurt a bit." And he advanced on the tree.

"How is Harry silly?"

Ron stiffened up at the sound of Hermione behind him and the little tree sighed when he turned to talk.

"He…erm…" Harry gave him a warning look and Ron made up a lie. "They're both such babies about getting a trim." He smiled hopefully. Hermione nodded.

"You're lying Ron, I know you too well. What were you talking about!" She put her hands on her hips. Harry tried to shake his head no, but Ron was already too intimidated.

"Harry was saying how he thought Trill was following him, and I told him that it was because Gryffindor's all go to the same classes!" He shrieked and covered his head, and Harry rolled his eyes. Hermione looked as if she were considering it.

"You know Harry…" She said. Her eyes brightened and she spoke faster. "…I think you're right! That little-" Harry gasped at Hermione's language, "-must be a spy from you-know-who!" She giggled with glee. "Oh just _wait _until I tell the headmaster!" And she skipped back to her work place, whistling all the while.

Trill stared at Hermione's back as it bounced back to its work place. She was up to something. Harry looked unhappily at Ron who shrugged and they both turned back silently to their plants. Oh yes, they had said something very important and Trill had a feeling that it did not bode well for her. She should have used her magic to listen in on them when she had the chance. Oh well, she would just have to take what Hermione could deal out. She snorted at the thought.

Trill's own tree squirmed and shrieked, and Amuren barked at the noise, but she sang it a soft song and it calmed down, letting her trim its branches.

"Head master!" Hermione called. She had no way of guessing what the password to his office was, so she sat beneath the gargoyle and waited. Fortunately, she did not have to wait long. The gargoyle jumped aside with a creak of stone joints and she had to roll out of it's way so as not to get squished. Albus Dumbledore appeared from behind and quickly helped her off of the ground.

"Miss Granger." He smiled kindly. "Shouldn't you be at dinner?" She dusted herself off and spoke quickly.

"I…I had urgent news and I thought I should tell you but I didn't want to miss class and…"

"Urgent news?" He interrupted softly, still smiling. "Of what sort?" Hermione opened her mouth to speak but he turned and motioned for her to come with him back to his office. "Come to my office Miss Granger and we'll talk about it." He placed his hand on her back and led her in. After closing the door behind her, Dumbledore sat behind his desk with a sweep of his robe and motioned for her to sit as well. He smiled brightly over his spectacles at her.

"Now, let's hear all about it."

Hermione squirmed in her chair and wondered how to begin. "The new girl…the one that arrived three months ago." She paused and looked to Dumbledore, who nodded. "She…um…well she…" Hermione stopped and collected herself. "I think she may be an accomplice of you-know-who." She concluded. It sounded pathetic even to herself.

Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow. "That is quite a claim." He said quietly. "But I do not believe in accusing my students of such a crime without proper evidence." Hermione nodded and pulled up her back pack, taking from it a manila folder.

"I got this picture of her." She said, laying it on the desk. "And Harry told me that she was doing strange things like always sitting in the back where she could see him and coming and leaving before he did and always watching and following him and her wand is brand new and in perfect condition as if she never uses it" Dumbledore held up a hand.

"Let's see the photograph."

He pulled the paper toward himself and saw the eyes of the Trill in the picture following Harry wherever he went and standing up suddenly when he went to a window or to the bathroom. He shook his head.

"Miss Granger. I know that you are a smart girl, and I believe you have been through many adventures. But it looks to me a if you are the one doing the following, not Miss Talu." He looked her in the eye.

Hermione's mouth hung open and her eyes were shocked. She had been sure that Dumbledore would believe her. She shook her head and apologized.

"Forgive me Professor." And she stood up quickly to leave the room.

Hermione left the office to see Trill waiting outside. She looked her in the eye only for a brief second before rushing off in a huff. If Dumbledore would not believe her, she would have to do something herself to protect Ron…and Harry.

Trill laughed at the sight of Hermione and sauntered into Dumbledore's office, closely followed by Amuren.

"What was that about?" She asked, laughing. Dumbledore had his hands clasped in front of him and was looking at his fingers.

"She knows about your methods. She noticed when you took precautions on Harry." He looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow. "She is a very smart girl. She even had a close up photograph where you could see plain as day that you were watching Harry."

Trill knitted her eyebrows. "Does that worry you?" Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"She claimed that you were a supporter of Lord Voldemort, and really if I hadn't known otherwise I might have suspected you. She had me with the photograph." Dumbledore held it up for her to see.

Trill took it into her hands with disbelief. "Well Hermione Granger." She whispered. She looked up at Dumbledore. "What do we do?" She asked. When he didn't answer right away, she said, "I can make her forget all about it..?" She held up her fingers and wiggled them.

Dumbledore closed his eyes. "No. Just leave things be for now. Go to the Halloween feast…and try to be less obvious." He looked her in the eye until she nodded and walked out through the door.

"See you at the feast!" And she waved good-bye, running past the gargoyle and down the stairs.

"_How did Hermione get that picture?" _She shook her head and nearly ran into a second year in the hall. "_But what's more important… _Is what she plans to do now." She whispered the last sentence to herself. Trill was wandering aimlessly down the hall, past groups of giggling girls all twittering about the dance and feast tonight. They held up dress robes and mirrors and make-up and exchanged compliments, but Trill snorted. Beauty was such a waste of time.

There was virtually nothing Hermione could do to stop Trill. If she wanted something, she would get it. She had only weakness. A soft spot on the back of her neck when if pressed, would push up against her vocal chords and stop them from vibrating. Trill placed her hand on it and tried to gasp out some magic. Nothing.

Banshees in the old world had never worn armor to battle- and hardly any _clothing_ at that. Except for a steel ring around their necks to protect the soft spot.

"_But no matter how many books Hermione reads," _Trill thought smugly. _"She will never know that." _She shouldered her bag and gave the password to the fat lady.

"Prisslewick." And then climbed through the portrait hole.

"_If the Banshee were alive, they would never tell you or let you get close enough. And if they were dead…" _She drifted up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, lost in thought.

"_Then they couldn't sing for you anyway." _She finally dropped her bag onto the ground and sat on the bed.

"I guess I'll get ready for the feast then." She sighed. "Just like every other _student_ here." She began to rummage through her trunk for her dress.

"Dress robes indeed." She muttered. "For a feast." She looked around her for someone else in the room, but there was no one else. "Although they do have the most excellent band coming." She smiled at the thought. Amurensis hated rock music.

She pulled out of her trunk a midnight blue dress that rippled like silk in the moonlight and an imaginary wind. She pulled the gauzy material over her head and fastened the longs sleeves on her middle finger, twirling around to look at herself in admiration. The dress was long and elegant and swished when she walked, but the wide neck left her shoulders bare and the greater part of her front exposed.

"It's cold already." She muttered and left her hair in its wrist thick braid, rushing to the door. She pulled on the handle but it didn't budge. She turned quickly to see Hermione emerging from the shadows.

"I know who you work for." She growled into Trill's face. "And I won't let you take Harry to your master. I _will _expose you." Trill waited patiently. Hermione stormed through the door when Trill just smiled and ran down the stairs. Trill followed calmly.

_"Poor Hermione." _She mused and walked slowly to the great hall, stopping to put on some soft blue slippers.


	4. The cold war part two

**The cold war; part two.**

Trill took her time getting to the great hall. The rest of the students were already waiting at the doors, pushing to get in. She looked behind her to see Amurensis suddenly appear at her side.

"That's quite some dress." He said, glancing at her bare shoulders and low neck line. She puffed herself up importantly.

"Why thank you." And stopped, looking him up and down. "It's no more revealing than yours. Didn't the robes shop have anything wide enough for your shoulders?"

Amurensis pulled uncomfortably at the cloth stretched tight across his broad chest.

"No." He said irritably. "They never do." Trill laughed at him and continued through the door.

Many eyes followed the two of them as they entered the hall. The young females in the room nearly fainted at the sight of Amurensis' snug forest green robes and Trill could feel Harry and Ron's eyes on her back, and Hermione's as well. Hermione was watching to make sure she didn't go anywhere near Ron…or Harry, so she steered clear of them for the moment, scanning the hall for Malfoy instead.

He wasn't hard to spot, accompanied as he was by his two pet gorilla's- Crabbe and Goyle. She sauntered over to him, swinging her hips. All three gulped simultaneously and Malfoy winked at her.

"Your fan club Draco, it's…late, it seems." She smiled broadly.

"Oh no," He answered. "It looks like you made it just fine." He smirked at her indignation and then bowed low. "May I have this dance?" He asked her grandly. Trill smiled.

"I'm not sure…so many people have asked me for a dance and I just don't know if there's room for you…" Malfoy ignored this completely and grabbed her waist and hand in a dancing pose. Trill wasn't surprised and matched his evil grin tooth for tooth. "I must warn you then," she said breathily. "Not many are up to my level of dancing and I could out dance them in any conditions." Malfoy didn't even twitch.

"Bring it on."

The music ended and Trill broke away to fall into a chair with her hand on her stomach.

"I commend you sir Malfoy!" She said cheerily, out of breath. "You dance most excellently! But I must have a breather." Malfoy stood in front of her breathing hard for a different reason.

He had made up his mind before the feast that he was _not _going to give even the smallest _acknowledgement _to Trill Talu. She had chosen sides, and chosen Harry, hadn't she? But when she came in wearing her midnight blue dress and bare shoulders and shimmering hair, he couldn't stop himself. And that walk! He didn't think Trill realized how much she swung her hips when she walked. It made him dizzy and sweaty to watch her, and the fast dance seemed to relieve his nerve for a while, until he watched her breathing heavily. Up and down, up and down. His mouth went dry and he started feeling hot and itchy and he felt the driving need to go outside into the cold air. He cleared his throat.

"May I escort you outside, Milady? The fresh air may do you some good." It was hard for him to act sarcastic.

"Of course." She said, and offered him her hand in part of the act. His fingers tingled when he took her hand and he covered the shiver that went up his spine with a stretch. Crabbe and Goyle tried to follow, but Malfoy waved them away and they stayed where they were.

The two of them left the hall and found themselves in the garden. Malfoy cleared his throat.

"And here we have the famous 'Hogwarts garden' complete with water fountain! It's pretty girl-um…pretty _good _if I may say so." He tried hard not to flush red. He was spared the uncomfortable silence by the sounds of two more people coming up the path.

Trill and Malfoy ducked behind a tall shrub-tree and watched the couple while stifling giggles. Fortunately it took only a few minutes for Vera to get tired of the kissing and she and Robert snuck back to the dance. Trill released the guffaw she had been holding in and Malfoy laughed half-heartedly. So she thought kissing was funny?

"Honestly." Trill breathed happily. "Who just does that anyway?" Malfoy saw her look to him to affirm it, but he was busy staring raptly at her. She looked even more beautiful when she began to squirm.

"I think I'll go back to the dance now." She stood up, dusted off her dress, and turned to go, but Malfoy grabbed her hand and put his other one on her neck. Trill gulped and layered her voice with banshee song.

"Malfoy." He paused under her spell for a moment, but pushed harder on her neck. He had hit unknowingly the only weak spot on her entire body.

"Your skin looks almost white in the moonlight." He whispered, staring into her eyes. She backed away from him but her back hit the castle wall, and the hand now encircling her waist kept her from running. She panicked and tried to terminate the banshee lure, but it would not be withdrawn.

"Stop it right…" But it barely came out as a rasp. She tried weakly to push him away, but without her magic he could handle her like a kitten, and his hand was still on her neck.

He kissed her softly, and she waited helplessly. When he pulled his head away from hers, she struggled and whispered as loudly as she could.

'Let go of my neck!" She turned it frantically. "You're hurting me." And looked him in the eye. He looked at her quizzically and let go of her neck. Her magic poured back into her limbs and she pushed his arms away from her.

"I'm going back to the castle…" But Malfoy had put his hand experimentally back onto her neck. She was silent and weak once more.

"What's this?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow and experimented once more. He let go.

"Sto-" He pushed on her neck. Now she was panicking and nearly crying. He knew the secret. He knew.


End file.
